Well here we are. After years of layering on mandates, carbon markets, compliance schemes, allowance trading systems and enough regulatory complexity to require its own zip code, officials are now acting “shocked” that electricity prices are going up.
The latest RGGI allowance spike is apparently forcing a sudden realization that when you artificially increase the cost of producing energy, those costs eventually show up on someone’s bill. Usually the people least able to absorb them. Who could have possibly foreseen this groundbreaking economic discovery?
Certainly not the architects of a program literally designed to “make fossil fuels more expensive.” Because now that wholesale power costs are jumping, ratepayers across the Northeast are being told not to worry. That’s right, the same people who caused the problem have a plan to use the money they collected from the problem to “offset” the problem. Makes sense right? And yet environmental advocates are reminding this is a feature, not a bug and the goal all along:
Meanwhile regulators are scrambling to calm markets after allowance prices nearly doubled in a matter of weeks, utilities are warning about higher monthly bills and politicians who campaigned on “affordability” are suddenly explaining why affordability actually means paying more now so you can maybe save later.
The best part is everyone is pretending this is some unforeseeable market anomaly instead of the inevitable outcome of adding artificial scarcity trading schemes and carbon taxes-by-another-name onto the electric grid. Except for those few who have advocated that NJ to leave RGGI and even have legislation to do just that.
The simple fact is this was always the plan. The only surprise to us is that some people are finally admitting it out loud.
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